MANILA - A group of financial executives on Monday said it opposes the enactment of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), and called on Congress to prioritize the passage of the corporate tax reform bill instead.

The Financial Executives Association of the Philippines (FINEX) said that while it acknowledges the importance of protecting lives and property from terrorism, its members are concerned over the provisions of the bill.

"We are concerned, however, that the changes proposed in the ATA in relation to the existing Human Security Act of 2007 (HSA), particularly the expansion of the definition of terrorism, addition of acts punishable under the ATA, coupled with the reduction, or removal, of specific safeguards against abuse and mistaken charges, may create more issues and complications in its implementation and enforcement," FINEX said in a statement.

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The group said a court should decide whether an individual can be tagged as a terrorist, instead of giving this authority to the proposed Anti-Terrorism Council.

"And we believe that the rights and dignity of those erroneously charged with terrorism be preserved and upheld, and any and all inadvertent damages and losses be equitably compensated," FINEX added.

The group said that instead of expanding the state's powers to go after suspected terrorists, the government should instead focus on helping businesses recover from the crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

FINEX specifically called on lawmakers to pass the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE), which seeks to cut corporate income tax to 25 percent from 30 percent as early as July.

"The most important bill to pass immediately is CREATE to allow the tax relief to be converted into salaries and business recovery, and then followed by other necessary economic stimulus measures. We urge Congress to call an emergency session to pass these extremely important bills."

Under the proposed measure the corporate income tax will be further reduced by 1 percentage point per year starting 2023 until it reaches 20 percent by 2027.

Other business groups also said they support the tax reform package after previously saying they had reservations on it.

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